


You're So Dead Meat

by MalevolentReverie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baby vamp Rey, Ben is 28, Ben is a human, Blood Drinking, Chaotic Danger Boyfriend Ben, Character Turned Into Vampire, Darkfic, Dominant Kylo Ren, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Gaslighting, Hiatus, Human/Vampire Relationship, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Older Man/Younger Woman, Power Imbalance, Praise Kink, Rey is 14, Rey is a vampire, Size Kink, Submissive Rey (Star Wars), Supernatural Elements, Vampire Bites, Vampire Turning, Vampires, idk knowing me this will probably have daddy kink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:29:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24675373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalevolentReverie/pseuds/MalevolentReverie
Summary: Rey becomes a vampire and struggles with her transition. She bites a human named Ben out of desperation and he takes her under his wing.HIATUS: 9/20/20
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 213
Kudos: 548





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Дела твои плохи](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24826642) by [Tersie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tersie/pseuds/Tersie)



> help me

A strange man bites Rey one night while she’s sleeping, and she becomes gravely ill.

It’s hard to hide when she leaves her tent in the mornings to go to work for Unkar, her ‘guardian’. For the first couple days she skitters from the alley and manages to collect her daily scraps; manages to pick a few pockets. But by the third day she can’t stop vomiting and the sun makes her skin burn.

She slogs through the narrow alleys, dizzy, uncomfortable for reasons she can’t begin to understand. No matter how much water she drinks from the fountains throughout the city she _still_ feels thirsty, and painfully hungry. Everything feels loud and bright and it’s _too much_.

Unkar is waiting outside the tall, crumbling apartment Rey calls home with a dozen other girls when she drags herself to the porch, exhausted and dehydrated. He’s sitting on the bottom step smoking a cigarette and rubs his jowls.

“Can’t stay here.” His beady eyes narrow. “Got some sickness, girl. Try the park.”

Her heart flutters. She’s trembling, on the verge of passing out, covered in sores from the sunlight.

“But…” She swallows. “I pay to live h-here.”

“You ain’t bringin’ that sickness in to the other girls.” Unkar shoos her. “Get— _now.”_

Rey begs him for a couple more minutes until he drives her off with his pistol. She stumbles out into the side street, sobbing and rubbing her eyes and shying away from the dying rays of the afternoon sun. Where is she supposed to sleep tonight? On a bench? Under a bush? What if the strange man bites her again? He found her before—inside her house.

She wanders toward the park at the middle of the city, pausing to throw up into a trash can along the way. So tired. So tired.

The world spins and glimmers and roars in her sensitive ears. Rey finds a dense patch of bushes and crawls underneath them, trembling and disoriented. This will be okay. She just needs to sleep it off.

—•—

Rey’s eyes snap open.

She sits bolt upright in the bushes. Thirsty. Thirsty. So thirsty. She’s going to die if she doesn’t get some water. Her heart is already slowing down.

She tries to get up and flings herself out of the bushes, spilling across the grass and startling a woman walking her dog. It’s bright: sun streams down through the trees and Rey bares her teeth and _hisses_.

The dog barks and the woman hurries off. Rey covers her mouth in horror and squirms away from the light, scrambling for the bushes and hurling herself into them by accident again. Her muscles feel tight and hard; like she’s been lying still for a really long time. Something is wrong. She needs to see a doctor.

But Unkar won’t pay for that.

Rey peers through the bushes at the people meandering by. Everything is so _bright_ and focused it makes her growl and rub her eyes. Maybe she has rabies. Rose read in it a book that rabies makes people act crazy, but rabies doesn’t have a cure.

She licks her lips and sways to her feet, unsteady but somehow managing to walk straight anyway. Her only chance is to go see a doctor.

It’s hard avoiding the sun, even if she’s in the Pacific Northwest. Rey bolts between the shade from stop signs and buildings, grimacing when the light burns her skin, and tries to remember where the hospital is. Her brain is moving really fast. It’s hard to keep up—she can’t stop thinking about how thirsty she is.

She finds a water fountain near the library and risks dipping out into the sun to take a drink. But it’s _horrible_ , and she spits most of it out, then throws up the rest in the alley.

Rey stares at the puddle on the pavement, frightened. People with rabies hate water. What if she gives it to someone else? Are the doctors going to kill her?

Then she realizes through her thick haze of fear that something very important isn’t happening—lots of important things aren’t happening. She clutches her chest and sucks in a terrified breath when she doesn’t feel her heart beating, only she doesn’t _need_ the breath. Nothing happens. She didn’t even notice her lungs weren’t filling up with air because she’s so thirsty she can’t stop _thinking_ about it.

It’s a lot to process but her brain does it too fast. Rey stares at her pale hands in the dark alley, flexing her fingers. No. No. That’s not possible.

“No,” she mumbles, voice raspy. She shakes her head. “No, no.”

No. Rey shrinks into the alley, trembling and watching the people walk by. That’s not possible.

—•—

Within two days, Rey comes to the conclusion that she has to… feed.

Thirst turns to hunger turns to _agony_ , and she sobs at night, clutching her throat and resisting the powerful impulse to eat. She’s always been good at starving but this is much different; much more miserable. She hides in her bush during the day to sleep and cries alone at night, because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

It’s insane—it’s not possible. Vampires aren’t real. But she tries to check her reflection in a Rite Aid window and doesn’t see anything looking back.

So Rey waits for nightfall, the safest time to be awake. People in bars are drunk enough not to notice her taking a quick bite of their wrist, she hopes. Attacking someone is unthinkable and scary and she plans on taking a few quick bites just to take the edge off. They’ll be drunk. They might not notice.

She sticks to dark corners on her way to the closest bar, watching from around a corner, desperately hungry. People move in and out and laugh and chat. It’s springtime so they’re enjoying the nice weather. Maybe they won’t notice.

Rey wrings her cold hands and tries breathing on them to warm them up. Okay. She has to eat. It’ll be okay. She doesn’t have to kill anyone.

Shaking, she starts toward the bar, passing by a narrow alley that smells like cigarettes. Rey pauses and glances down it, then the breeze carries a strong scent that makes her mouth water. Her fast brain pulls her off course and straight down the alley instead, towards a tall man smoking a cigarette.

His back is turned to her but she doesn’t care. Rey stares at his hand hanging by his side and darts forward so fast that the world becomes a blur.

Warm blood fills her mouth—she’s grabbing his whole forearm, fangs buried in his skin, sucking before she realizes it. She expects some resistance but the man doesn’t say anything.

It’s the best thing Rey has ever tasted. She squeezes his thick forearm, eyes rolling as she drinks more and more and the thirst dies away. Blood spills down her chin. The man curls his fingers into a fist and another hot spurt of blood pools in her mouth, like he’s trying to feed her, and her fast brain doesn’t get it.

He drops his cigarette and puts it out with his boot. “You must be hungry. I’ve been watching you running around all week.”

Rey hesitates, looking up at him through her lashes. He has a big nose and pale skin. Black hair that sweeps his shoulders. He raises his eyebrows and smiles.

“Go ahead,” he coos. His smile widens. “I don’t mind pretty girls drinking my blood.”

She’s too hungry to wonder why and carries on until the thirst is gone.

Rey licks her lips, thoughts racing a mile a minute. She just drank someone’s blood. A stranger’s blood. Without permission. That has to be bad. That’s bad.

Before she can stop it she’s crying. It’s hard to control her emotions now and everything is so strong and confusing, so she just sobs with the man’s blood still hot on her mouth. She just drank _blood._ Couldn’t even control herself.

He rolls down his sleeve and pouts. “Don’t cry. You were just hungry.”

“I’m sorry!” she blurts. Crying is easy when you don’t have to breathe. She backs away. “I’m sorry! I’ll go—I’m so sorry!”

“What, no cuddling?”

Rey stumbles a step and immediately catches herself. She turns and keeps walking, horrified. She just bit someone without permission. That’s bad.

The strange man calls after her. “You got a name? I’m Ben!” When she doesn’t answer he laughs. “I’ll be here tomorrow if you want a little hair of the dog!”

She runs, too fast, too _graceful_ , and winds up in the park at her bush.

Rey turns her hands over in the moonlight, staring at the shiny red blood. Maybe a doctor won’t be able to help her anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is beautiful fanart for this fic in my bookmarks!! also i updated the knife that sets you free but no one got a notification so letting u know now. check my carrd: malevolentreverie.carrd.co or twitter @malreverie to make sure you aren't missing updates!

The first thing Rey does is wash herself off: there’s a fountain in the park and no one is there in the middle of the night. She washes her face and hands and holds her shirt out at arm’s length, trembling. It’s all stained. Is the strange man going to be okay?

She looks around the shadowy park, concerned he might have followed her. How could he have been okay with her drinking his blood? What was that about? He’s been _watching_ her? Why?

Unnerved, Rey decides to try her luck getting back in Unkar’s good graces. She isn’t sick anymore, and now that she’s had something to eat she feels a lot better. Already the sores are healing on her forearms, knitting closed and fading into the same pale skin she has everywhere else.

She pays to live there, after all. He has to let her back in sometime.

It’s a quick walk to the crumbling apartment building she shares with a dozen other girls, most of them collecting scrap and picking pockets like Rey does. Older girls start sleeping with men for money instead—it makes a lot more.

The lights are off but she can see just fine; even better now that she’s full. Door is locked—but she grabs it and twists the handle clean off.

Rey blinks at it and looks around before casually dropping it in the bushes. Oops.

The door groans as it swings inward. She darts inside and quickly shuts it with a quiet click, ears pricked. Lots of sounds now: mainly, a strange _thump, thump, thump_ that makes her mouth water. Heartbeats? And the faint smell of warmth and coppery blood—it’s a little overwhelming. Maybe this is a bad idea.

But the smell brings her up the creaky stairs to the third floor where all her friends are sleeping. The older girls take the middle floor and Unkar has the first all to himself, so he can hear if anyone tries to leave in the middle of the night. He never hears her. Rey has always had a light step.

There are two bedrooms up here, both filled up with bodies in sleeping bags and a bunch of rusty old fans circulating the stale, humid air. Rey pads down the hall to the room she shares with Rose and a few other girls, peeking over her shoulder before tiptoeing inside. It’ll be fine. She’s better now, so Unkar won’t care that she’s back home.

She picks her way to the old wardrobe in the corner of the room and finds shorts and a T-shirt. The humidity doesn’t affect her—actually, she’s a little cold—so she adds a pair of black biker shorts and grabs her jacket from the closet. Good. Maybe she can get some sleep.

“Rey?”

Rose is lifting her head, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She squints.

Rey makes her way to her own sleeping bag, maybe too fast because Rose jerks back in surprise. She tries laughing it off.

“Hey,” Rey whispers, smiling. “I’m back.”

“Are you okay? Serena said you were _really_ sick.”

Rey shrugs and says she’s fine but Rose doesn’t seem convinced. She lies down again, frowning.

“Well…” She closes her eyes. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Sleeping bags rustle but the loud _thump, thump, thump_ of the hearts continues, ringing in Rey’s ears. She lies on her back and stares at the ceiling.

Sleep never comes.

—•—

In the morning Rey takes a shower before the other girls wake up, intending on leaving early to start her work for the day. She opens the bathroom door and comes face to face with Unkar, round face bright red. His heart is pounding. She can hear it.

“I told you to get lost!” he snarls.

“I pay rent!” Rey retorts. “I go out and work—!”

“You got some sickness you’re gonna give the other girls, and then I have _no one_ makin’ money!”

He tries grabbing her but he’s so slow that she easily dodges it, hissing as she sweeps under his arm. Her mouth tingles and she hears a loud _click_ —which she realizes belatedly, must be her fangs.

Rey tries covering her mouth but it’s too late. Unkar’s eyes widen and he points.

“Demon!” he shouts. He backs up. “Get out! I got silver—I got crosses! Get _out_!”

Fuck. She isn’t sure if any of those myths are true; if she can be burned or killed by that stuff, but she doesn’t want to find out. Rey bolts from the house without any of her belongings or even saying goodbye to Rose.

She runs straight out into a beam of sunlight and recoils on instinct, but… nothing happens.

Cars drive by on the busy street and people stroll along the sidewalk. Rey blinks, staring at her leg exposed to the bright morning sun. Nothing happens. Isn’t it supposed to boil? It usually boils.

Confused, she hops down the next few steps to the sunny sidewalk and turns in a circle. Her arms are protected by the jacket but most of her legs are exposed and they still don’t burn. She tries twisting it back to see if her calf burns and that just earns her some weird looks from pedestrians.

Rey frowns, excited and confused. Why can she suddenly stand in the sun? Nothing changed.

Then it dawns on her. _Oh_.

She drank blood from that man—what was his name? Ben? She turns her hand over in the sunshine, wriggling her fingers. Does he have blood that lets her be out during the day? Is that why he smelled so strong? It was really distracting. Really powerful. Tempting.

He said she could come back if she needed to, and she has nowhere to go.

Rey still sticks to the alleys on her walk to the bar, curling and rolling her lip to make her fangs retract. Turns out all she has to do is kinda snarl and they move easily up and down. By the time she gets to the bar she can move one at a time, and she quickly retracts them before anyone sees.

Someone is in the alley behind the bar but it isn’t Ben. Rey hovers around the corner to watch the man: he’s moving big boxes, probably full of liquor. He’s shorter than Ben and his hair is curly. Looks a little older.

He pauses in what he’s doing to take a breather, pressing his hands to his lower back and leaning until it cracks. His heart pounds: _thump, thump, thump_.

“You looking for Ben, honey?”

Rey startles, blinking out of her trance. The man is looking at her, smiling. He’s handsome: his jaw is square and he has scruff with some gray in it. He’s wearing a shirt with the bar name on it: _Flyboy’s_.

She nods, hesitant, and he points.

“He owns the place up a couple blocks— _Skywalker._ His cook called out so he’s working today. Might be kind of testy if you show up.”

“Okay,” she calls. “Thank you…?”

“Poe.” He waves and gives her another charming smile. “I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

Oh. Good. She nods and waves again before heading out, running so fast that the alley becomes a blur. Slow down. Sloooow down. People will think it’s weird if she moves _too_ fast.

Seattle isn’t a very sunny place so it’s easy to avoid detection by sticking to the shadows. Sometimes she pauses to let the sun warm her skin, but she notices a faint prickling now. She rubs the sore spots and hurries along, checking signs and peering around corners until she finds the restaurant.

It’s on a corner with a new sign in black, capital lettering: SKYWALKER. The building is faded white and gray with black shutters on the windows. Fancy. Since Poe let Ben know she was coming, Rey figures the alley behind the restaurant is a good place to wait. Walking in the front door to ask for him is probably rude, right?

She finds a blue plastic crate and turns it over to sit, bouncing her knee impatiently. Everything feels slow now. Everyone moves slow—the world moves slow. Maybe she should just go up front and ask for him. She could’ve gotten here faster than Poe could call.

Then the worn white door opens.

“Tell Mathias to get his ass to fucking work or he’s fired.” Someone talks back and Ben scoffs. “Tell him to send me a picture of the puke, then—and a rectal temperature.” The door creaks and pushes open a bit more. “I know his fucking girlfriend is in town and that’s why he called out. He put it all over fucking Facebook. Dipshit.”

Ben steps out into the alley and smiles when he sees her. His hair is up in a bun but his ears stick out a bit, and he’s wearing a navy dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black pants. He’s also wearing a cross around his neck that draws her eye but he quickly buttons his shirt to hide it.

“Sorry,” he says. He’s wearing bracelets around his wrists, too, shiny silver. “You’d be surprised how many vampires want my blood. How are you doing so far? Hungry again?”

Ben is wearing cologne but Rey can taste him anyway, thick and pungent and much more tempting than any other human she’s smelled so far. She stares, maybe for a couple seconds too long because he raises his eyebrows. She _is_ hungry. It never goes away, just gets less intense. Less distracting.

She averts her eyes to the ground, rolling a cigarette butt under the toe of her boot. Her brain screams at her to bite, bite, bite.

“I can be in the sun,” she says.

“Yeah, that’s why everyone wants my blood.” He laughs and flips over a carton to sit on across from her. He’s wearing a ring with a cross on it but puts a hand over it. “But I knew you were skulking around so I toned it down a little for a few days.”

“How did you know…?”

“There are a lot of vampires in Seattle. And you threw up black bile.”

Rey winces but he just laughs. Ew. That’s embarrassing.

Ben takes a cigarette out of his breast pocket. “I had nicotine so you probably got a rush from it but it usually fades pretty quick.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He nods, shielding his cigarette while he lights it. He slips the lighter in his breast pocket. “Don’t ask me why—not much about vampires makes sense. Dead body, heals fast… weird shit.”

“I had a bunch of burns and they faded away after I…” Her cheeks tingle but there’s no warmth.

Ben exhales a stream of smoke, studying her and smiling. He takes another drag.

“How old are you?”

“…Fourteen.”

“You look like you’re used to living on the street.” He flicks his ashes, coughing a bit. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Rey mutters.

She _does_ have a lot of experience living with very little, even if it fucking sucks. Her hands are rough—were rough—and her skin has all kinds of scars, all evidence she was a human a handful of days ago. Now it’s gone. All smoothed over.

And she has nowhere to go; no home to return to. She might not even see Rose again.

“Want to come home with me?”

Rey glances up. Ben is watching her, taking another drag, one hand draped over his knee. Sunlight spills across his shoulder.

She hugs herself. “I don’t know. I don’t want to cause any problems.”

He shakes his head, snorting and waving his hand. He’s very tall. Big guy; broad shoulders. Young. Ish.

“I don’t mind,” he says. “Plus, I know a lot about vampires so I can help you learn.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ben’s dark eyes wander off, narrowing. “Bet I know who changed you, too. Big no-no—changing kids.”

“I didn’t even see him.” Rey wrings her hands. “He just bit my neck and left.”

Anxiety wraps around her windpipe like a big pair of hands and she stifles the urge to cry. He didn’t touch her, except for the bite, but it felt so _wrong_ and _dirty_ ; she can’t stand thinking about it.

Ben stands, flicking his cigarette away. She barely knows him but she doesn’t have many other options. There isn’t a vampire shelter that she knows of.

Rey lowers her gaze to her hands once more, flexing them. And she’s strong now. If he does anything gross she can shove him away no problem, which is great for someone who’s always been skinny. No more getting pushed around, that’s for sure.

A warm hand touches the top of her head. She stiffens, stricken by a pang of hunger.

“You should be sleeping during the day, doll. At least a couple days a week.”

Can’t resist.

Rey twists and seizes his wrist. She almost bites but white hot pain makes her recoil, yelping. His bracelet—the silver. It really _does_ hurt.

Ben crouches, swearing. “Sorry, sorry.” He takes off the bracelet and offers his wrist again. “Here you go, baby. You should eat if you’re hungry.”

The door bursts open and Ben jumps up, snapping at the person interrupting. Rey’s face hurts, not in the funny joking way, and she’s quickly spinning off into hysteria. Silver hurts her. She really _is_ a vampire. She’s never going to age or get married and have kids—she’s going to be frozen like this forever.

She gets up, swaying and shaking, and breaks down into tears. This sucks.

Ben comes to her side as the door shuts. He curls a strand of hair behind her ear and wipes the tears from her cheeks with passes of his big thumbs. It takes a minute for Rey to realize she’s crying blood. Gross. That’s fucking disgusting.

But he just finds a rag on a crate and wipes his hands clean. She sniffles and hiccups.

“Poor little thing,” Ben murmurs. He sticks the rag in his back pocket. “You must be so tired and hungry. Let’s go home so you can sleep and have something to eat, hm?”

“This _sucks_!” she bawls. “Literally!”

It takes a second for Rey’s quick brain to pick up on her accidental joke. Ben laughs, and she can’t help but smile a little and laugh, too. Her mood shifts violently, the worst it’s ever been. This is hard. Confusing. Everything is too much at once.

Maybe she’s overtired. Hangry. Rose gets hangry.

Ben brushes her hand. “Come on—you’ll feel better once you relax, and we can talk after.”

She hesitates, and he raises his eyebrows and motions for her to follow. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and she could use a good nap.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s a short walk through the city to Ben’s apartment building, even when sticking to the shadows. He’ll pause every now and then like he’s listening for something then jerk his head and motion for Rey to follow. She has to slow down so she doesn’t accidentally race past him.

He lives down a quiet street in a big building with wide windows. Lots of trees. A doorman is waiting in the lobby, which is narrow but bright and filled with plants. Rey folds her arms and follows Ben to the elevator, mind racing. She can smell the doorman’s blood. _Hear_ it squelching in his arteries.

Ben presses a button for the tenth floor. His phone rings—it does that a lot—but he checks the caller ID and doesn’t answer. He never does.

Rey wrings her hands, casting nervous glances at him. She’s hungry. The silver smells bad and makes her skin crawl but she’s so hungry that she’s considering just biting him again anyway. This isn’t like craving a burger or ice cream: it hurts. It’s loud in her head and makes her mouth dry as a desert. Hungry.

Thankfully the elevator opens and the overpowering smell of him wafts out. Rey takes a deep breath to clear her lungs but they don’t inflate, and Ben laughs as they step out.

“Sorry,” he says. “We can take the stairs next time.”

He leads her down a hall to his apartment at the end. Rey looks around, absentmindedly cracking her knuckles. It’s quiet. Nice, but not fancy or anything.

Ben opens the door and leans against the doorframe. He smiles, motioning for her to enter, but she hesitates. She doesn’t know him. What if he kills vampires? Maybe it’s an elaborate trick.

But she doesn’t have anywhere to go, and so far he’s been nice. She shuffles into his apartment and he closes the door behind them.

It’s nice and cool. The floors are dark wood and the walls are beige, sort of plain, and he has a small table in the hallway with some random stuff in a green bowl. Ben tosses his keys in the bowl and beckons Rey down the hall into a big living room that feeds into a big kitchen. His furniture doesn’t all completely match but it doesn’t look old.

“I’ve got two bedrooms,” he says. “The second one has some junk in it but I can move it into the den.” He turns a little as he leads her into the kitchen, hands in his pockets. “Not that you’ll be sleeping much.”

Rey nods, avoiding his eyes. It would be nice to sleep again, even if it’s only for a little while.

He gives her a tour of the apartment, from the living room to the bedrooms and bathroom. He has two bathrooms. It’s a big place. Some decorations hang on the walls, nothing really notable—it all kind of matches but doesn’t at the same time. But it’s the nicest house Rey has ever been in.

“You can stay as long as you want,” Ben says, shrugging and running a hand through his hair. He sits on the leather sectional in the living room. “No one will bother you here.”

Rey nods, hovering in the doorway to the kitchen. Hunger burns in her throat.

Ben rests an arm over the back of the couch, smiling. His eyes wander down her outfit to her boots and he raises his eyebrows.

“Are you hungry?”

She looks at her hands and nods. Yes. Extremely. It’s embarrassing and gross.

“You don’t have to be shy about it, Rey. Doesn’t bother me.”

When she looks up he’s taking off his silver jewelry and setting it on the coffee table. Her gaze falls on his throat—it’s like his blood is pulsing so hard she can _see_ it—and she lurches forward a step, digging her nails into her palms.

Ben doesn’t seem bothered. He says he’s not. He casts her another glance and smile then beckons her with his index finger.

It’s still so strange; intimate and awkward, but she’s too hungry to care. She sits next to him, zipping quickly like she always does now, and he startles a little. Then he laughs and it makes her smile. He has a nice laugh. His teeth are a little crooked.

“You should probably sleep after this.” He turns his wrist up and Rey’s fangs pop out. “You’ll feel better if you do.”

She grabs and bites. Her mouth knows right where to go and her fangs slice through the thin skin to the pulsing artery underneath. Blood spurts into her mouth, warm and thick, and she squeezes Ben’s forearm harder. Finally finally finally…

He exhales, tilting his wrist a bit toward her mouth. Something brushes her hair but she doesn’t pay any attention to it. Tastes good. Sorta sweet.

She lets go when the burning in her throat fades away, licking her lips, smacking them to get the last tastes of blood. Ben has his arm around her shoulders. It’s heavy and hot. His thumb rubs small circles where her collar bone meets her shoulder.

“Better?” he murmurs. Rey nods, and he hugs her to his ribs. “Good. Just let me know whenever you’re hungry. My blood comes back a little quicker than most people’s so it doesn’t bother me.”

He gets up and she turns to watch him check his phone. Everything is slower now. Maybe she’s not in hunting mode anymore.

But this doesn’t make sense—this is weird. Why is he helping her? How does he know about vampires? This has to be a trick. He’s probably calling news stations to tell them he caught a real vampire and he’s going to sell her to the government.

Rey clears her throat. “Um… why are you… helping me? Again?”

Ben taps out a text. He doesn’t turn around.

“You’re just a kid,” he says, idly rubbing his jaw. “You’ll end up getting yourself killed if I let you run around—and I’m not supposed to let you run around.”

“But… but aren’t there other vampires in Seattle?”

Can’t she live with them? _Shouldn’t_ she? It’s hard to control her hunger and she doesn’t want to hurt Ben. He’s been nice to her. Too nice.

He slips his phone in his pocket and presses his lips into a tight line, shrugging.

“There are,” he says.

“Should I go there?”

Ben sighs and ambles out to the kitchen. He gets a glass of water from the fridge, quiet the entire time, and Rey studies her hands. She could stay here. She just doesn’t want to get in the way.

He comes back to sit beside her. His pulse is muted now, soft and quiet. He puts his arm over the back of the couch.

“Slight problem.” Ben sips his water and puckers his lips. “Kids being turned into vampires is not… _ideal_ , since they tend to be more unpredictable and can’t control themselves. They’ll probably see you as a liability—usually when this happens they, uh… y’know.”

He draws his water towards his chest and sticks his tongue out. Rey’s eyes widen. Oh. _Oh_.

“Oh,” she mumbles.

“But you’ll be safe here with me. I’ll figure out who bit you, he’ll be punished, and I’ll let Snoke know I’m taking responsibility for you. Shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Snoke?”

“Head honcho vampire. I’ve known him since I was a kid.” Ben waves her off. His eye twitches. “Creepy cryptkeeper vampire. Real ancient. You don’t wanna talk to him.”

Rey nods. Well that’s good that he knows old scary vampires and can talk to them for her.

Ben wraps his arm around her narrow shoulders and hugs her to his ribs again. She leans against him, confused and upset but thankfully full of blood. He’s nice. He’s going to help her. Everything will be fine.

But grief bubbles up once more, cold and hard and lodged in her throat. She’s going to miss out on a lot of stuff and the other vampires won’t even _want_ her. What’s the point of being immortal if everyone hates you? Seems like a bad trade-off.

“You should go to sleep,” Ben says. He pats her upper arm. “I’ll be right out here if you need me.”

Rey nods, sniffling to hold back the gross bloody tears. Maybe she just needs a nap.

He brings her to the guest bedroom, all full of random boxes and old gym equipment and other stuff. But it has a bed and the curtains are thick enough to block out most of the sun. It’s comforting.

Ben pushes a cardboard box aside with his foot. “I’ll get blackout curtains and something smaller for you to sleep in. Usually you guys like tight spaces.”

“Thank you,” Rey says quietly.

He nods, and she feels his eyes on her as she climbs into the small bed. No sheets, just an old mattress, but that’s fine. She can make do.

It squeaks. She rubs her eyes with her fists, exhaustion seeping into her bones. It will be nice to fall asleep for a while—forget about this. She’ll be fresh when she wakes up and ready to figure out what she’s going to do in the long-term.

“Thanks, Ben,” she repeats. Her brain is slowing down and her speech slurs on his name.

“No problem, doll. I’m down the hall if you need me.”

She nods drowsily. He leaves the room and closes the door and Rey lies flat on her back just as the pressing darkness closes in around her. She’ll never take sleep for granted again.


End file.
